European political scientist Lavrelashvili: The ban on the UOC will not be an obstacle to Ukraine's accession to the EU

Theona Lavrelashvili, a political scientist at the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies, is convinced that the issue of banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not prevent Ukraine from joining the European Union. Lavrelashvili believes that Ukraine has the right to impose such restrictions because the country is at war with Russia. She spoke about this in an interview with DW.

“Theoretically, the ban on religious organizations associated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine could be analyzed according to these criteria, especially with regard to freedom of religion and the right of association. However, in practice, it is necessary to take into account the complexity of the situation in the country,” — the political scientist noted.

She added that the European Union is likely to consider it necessary to ban religious groups associated with Russia in Ukraine. Allegedly, this step by the Ukrainian authorities is dictated by the “need to ensure Ukraine’s national security.”

«The ban on religious groups associated with Russia is likely to be seen by the EU as a necessary step to prevent Russian interference through religious organizations, thereby ensuring Ukraine’s national security. In the context of war, Brussels is likely to avoid interference, recognizing the measures taken by Kyiv as symbolic acts demonstrating its desire for spiritual independence from Moscow,» — the expert added.

Recall that Marco Kaasik, a member of the board of the Estonian Green Party, stated that the law on freedom of religion does not apply to the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (ECOC), as it is “Putin’s church.” Kaasik called on all EU countries to adopt Ukraine’s experience in fighting the Church in order to more actively restrict the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in European states.